Running Times' Winter '08-'09 Trail Shoe Review

Determine your trail persona, find your shoe

During an interview with lawyers from my new law firm, I was given a crucial question: “What is your favorite movie?” I had to applaud my future colleagues. This was, indeed, a lawyer-like, probative personality litmus test. What movie I liked would reveal my lawyer personality; my personality

would determine how I would fit with the other partners.

Just as lawyers have distinct personalities, so do trail runners. We trail runners are characterized by the way we run, the typical distance of our runs and, perhaps most importantly, the surfaces upon which we log most of our miles. Once you distinguish your trail running persona, you can determine the right “partners” for your running: the best shoes to match your traits. The following review should help to align you for a well-suited footwear personality match in one or more of our four trail categories — light and fast racers, all-surface training, protection and support and winterized models. If you align with more than one, you might have a split trail personality. But that probably means you just really love to run trails.

Light and Fast Racers are rare trail shoes designed for those who like the feel of the trail with minimal cushioning or protection underfoot

All-Surface Training shoes have adequate cushioning and ride to go smoothly from doorstep to sidewalk to path, and, in some instances, on to remote mountain trails.

Shoes in the Protection and Support category incorporate trail-specific designs like rock-stops, roll-protection and reinforced uppers for the runner going far off-road, or just wanting more foot support.

Lastly, we’ve included a Winterized category, for shoes with specific water- and slop-resistant features.

Light & Fast RacersPure trail shoes designed for those who like the feel of the trail with minimal cushioning or protection underfoot